"Bye Bulma! And thanks again!" Goku shouted to his friend.
"Bye Goku! See ya later!" Bulma shouted back and waved as Goku's form became a spec in the sky. She turned and headed back inside. Upon entering, she heard the cry of an unhapy infant.
"Ugh, that's all he does, cry, cry, cry." she sighed and climbed up the stairs to Trunks' room. She passed through the door of his room, sighing again at how loud something so small could be, and bent over to pick the child up. She held her baby boy close to her and turned to leave, when suddenly the wall burst out at her, bricks, window and all, with a loud firey BOOM!
She held Trunks tight to her, rolling as she flew from the force of the explosion. She landed hard on her back, skidding across the floor, almost rolling down the stairs.
Goku, HELP! she thought to herself as she hugged Trunks tightly. Her ear rang terribly and tears ran down her cheek. Was this the end? Were she and her new born about to die?
"Well, he's not in here either," a female voice said.
"Goku wouldn't hide. So why doesn't he just come out and play?" a first male voice said, "16, are you sure he is here?" Suddenly, something clicked inside Bulma's brain. Had they all not been warned about this very situation? Hadn't Goku just left after checking up on her? And where was Vegeta? These were the Androids, she was sure of it.
"I sensed his presence here, but it seems to be gone now," a second male voice stated.
"Let's just blow this whole place up," the female voice suggested.
"Sure, why not?" the first male voice answered. Bulma lifted her head just in time to see the three figures fly back out the hole they made.
"Vegeta..." she called weakly, hoping maybe he had come back from training randomly, for no reason other than she was in trouble. He would come back and save her? Wouldn't he? But maybe not. She could move, so she did, scooting as fast as she could down the stairs, making her way to the basement where she would be protected from the blast the Androids were preparing. Luckily for her, these Androids enjoyed destroying things, and so took their time, blowing the mansion up piece by piece. Bulma battled time and her own injuries from the blast. Trunks was crying again, so he was alive. She was broken, battered and bruised, but alive, and so was her little boy. She made it to the basement, opened and closed the door behind her and hudded under a steel shelf, holding her child close, whispering words of security and safety in his ears as her home fell apart around her.
Finally the sounds of destruction ended, but the door to the basement opened. Bulma screamed.
"There was one more live one. She's almost dead though. You want her? It's no fun for me once they reach that point," a blonde woman dressed in what looked like a cowgirl outfit stated nonchelantly, as if blowing up houses and killing the inhabitants was a normal, socially acceptable thing.
"You don't know wha fun really is, 18," said her male counterpart. He was dressed in a black shirt, ripped blue jeans, and an orange bandana wrapped around his neck. His black hair was the same length of the female he called 18: just above the shoulders. He walked towards Bulma who screamed and backed up. At some point she had dropped Trunks, who lay silent on the floor on the floor. The android chased her, still screaming, into a corner, then knelt down in front of her. "Don't worry, this won't hurt... long." He grabbed her by the throat. "Now that I have you, why don't you tell me where Goku is." Bulma continued screaming.
"She's not going to talk, 17. Look at her, she's hysterical!" the blonde criticised.
The android numbered 17 sighed, eyes closed, head bowed, then looked back into Bulma's eyes. "You won't talk? Fine. I'll make this quick." He squeesed his hand. Bulma's scream diminished until there was a crack and her head went limp. 17 let go and Bulma dropped to the floor, silent and still.
"Good, can we go now? We were close to catching Goku this time. I want to get going."
17 turned to the largest of the three, a man packed with muscle and dressed in green and black. His orange hair stood up in a mohawk down the center of his head. "Where to, big guy?"
"I belive he has returned to his home, South East of here, though I do not sense him," said Number 16, in a monotone robotic voice.
"Back to the bus, then." The three androids left the wreck that was once home to Bulma, baby trunks, Vegeta, and Bulma's parent's. They got back into the van they had stolen along the way, and continued in search of Goku.
Just as their van pulled out of view, a young woman, seemingly in her early twenties appeared out of the shaddows, stood a moment to make sure the coast was clear, then dashed to the last remaining structure. She looked around the small room. "I'm so sorry I couldn't help," she said to the corpse, then continued looking around the room. At last she found him, and knelt down. She sighed with relief. "He's alive," she said aloud.
"That's more than I can say about you, soon. Who the heck are you?" The young woman froze from the harsh tone of the male voice that shouted at her.
"Let me explain," the girl said as she turned around.
"Did you do this?" Goku asked the girl.
"No, I just got here. I-"
"Are you an android?"
"No, I'm not. I'm here to help."
Goku opened his mouth to speak, then saw Bulma's crumpled body lying, broken and bleeding, in the corner. "Bulma! NO!" He ran to her side, lifted her body into his arms and found a broken neck as he looked for a pulse. "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-I'LL KILL THEM FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO MY FRIENDS!" Goku stood and shouted at the sky. Energy pulsed all around him. The girl holding baby Trunks watched him, mouth agape.
"Look, Goku, we shouldn't stay here, the androids are close and they're way more powerful than Trunks thought-"
Goku stared at her. "How do you know about Trunks? How do you know my name? How do you know about the androids? Who are you?"
"It's going to take a long time to explain but you have to trust me. I have information for you that will help you fight these monsters, but please, we have to leave and soon. They will sense you and be here in minutes, so please, please let's get out of here."
Goku glared at her, then looked down at baby Trunks. "Is he alright?"
"He's alive. Barely, but he will pull through. He's a saiyan, after all. His father's blood won't let him die this easily," the girl assured him. Goku nodded, then gestured for her to follow him. They supressed what they could of their energy, then flew to Goku's house, silent the entire way.
Gohan was outside studying when the two arrived. He looked up, sensing that his dad was back.
"Moooooom! Dad's back!" He shouted happily to his mother inside the house, and ran up to greet his dad.
"Daaaad!" Gohan laughed as he ran up and hugged his dad.
"Hey Gohan! Was I really gone that long?"
"Goku. What took you so long?!" Chi-Chi scolded.
"I'm sorry I took so long, Chi-Chi," Goku began to explain as he walked towards his wife, "Things are worse than we thought."
"Is that Trunks? He's covered in blood! Goku, what happened?! And who are you?" She interogated the new commer and snatched baby Trunks from the girl's grasp.
"Well," the girl took a deep breath and began, "My name is Ariadne and I've come to help and warn you."
"Oh, what about, Miss Ariadne?" Chi-Chi asked snidely, checking over Trunks.
"About a fatal disease one of you will get. I have some medicine right here..." Ariadne pulled a small bottle from her pocket and handed it to Chi-Chi who was closest to her.
Chi-Chi took it and inspected it, "Hmm... so this is the medicine, huh..."
"Yes it is. We don't have much time, though. The androids are hot on Goku's trail and they know about this place. They just left Bulma's, but-"
"Wait, where is Bulma?" Chi-Chi asked. Her question was met only with grave faces. "No, oh no. No, no no"
"Chi-Chi..." Goku hugged his wife, Trunks still in her arms, as she began sobbing.
"Dad?" Gohan ask.
"Everything is ok, Gohan. Go inside and start packing. We're going to stay at Master Roshi's for a while," Goku instructed his son gently.
"Oh-OK, Dad." Gohan ran inside.
"I'm so sorry..." Ariadne tried to console the crying woman, but Goku just glared at her and held his wife. "I'll take Trunks inside and clean him up, if that's OK." Goku nodded and released Chi-Chi long enough for the newcommer to take the child. She went inside and left the husband and wife to grieve.